Drugmaker AstraZeneca's earnings fall, hit by patent expiries

Reuters - UK Focus

LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) 's underlying earnings fell 12 percent in the first quarter, broadly in line with analyst expectations, hit by drug patent expiries.

Revenue at the British drug company rose 1 percent in dollar terms to $6.12 billion, helped by income from selling rights to some drugs, generating core earnings per share, which exclude certain items, of 95 cents.

Industry analysts had on average forecast quarterly revenue of $5.93 billion and earnings of 94 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) .

AstraZeneca reiterated on Friday that it expects a low to mid single-digit percentage decline in both revenue and core earnings at constant exchange rates for the full year. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Goodman)